Longbowmen
|upkeep_cost = |num_figures = |moves = |melee = |ranged = |defense = |resist = |hits = |abilities = Ranged Attack x8 +10% To Hit Forester }} Longbowmen are a type of Normal Unit. This unit is unique to the High Elf Race, and can only be built in High Elf towns, for the Construction Cost of . The town must already contain both a Barracks and a Sawmill for this to be possible. Longbowmen have a respectable Ranged Attack, which can be quite deadly to lightly-armored opponents. As the unit gains Experience its Ranged Attack becomes significantly stronger, and can easily threaten even stronger opponents. In emergencies, Longbowmen can resort to a much-weaker Melee Attack. Longbowmen enjoy a racial To Hit bonus of , a higher-than-average Resistance score, and the Forester ability which in theory allows them to navigate through Forests with ease. Longbowmen require an Upkeep Cost of and to maintain. Failure to pay these costs will result in the unit being disbanded automatically. Unit Properties Physical Description Longbowmen are a group of tall humanoids with blond hair, slender and majestic. They are dressed in reddish-brown tunics with grey belts. Longbowmen carry bows and arrows, which can be fired at enemies from a distance. The bows they carry are especially large, and thus more powerful and accurate than the common short-bows carried by other Bowmen. They also carry short swords for situations where hand-to-hand combat is unavoidable. Longbowmen are a , containing when fully healed. Attack Properties The Longbowmen's primary attack is a surprisingly-effective Ranged Attack, which stands a good chance of piercing light armor. They can use this attack up to 8 times in each battle. In emergencies they can also use a weaker Melee Attack. Each Longbowman's Ranged Attack has a strength of . It enjoys an innate To Hit bonus of , which puts each Longbowman's average damage output at about per attack. In other words, it is likely that each Longbowman will hit its target at least once per attack. With all 6 Longbowmen attacking in unison, this can amount to a rather serious damage output. Note that when attacking enemies beyond 2 tiles away, To Hit range penalties kick in, reducing damage by a certain amount. Also, enemies with decent armor and/or Large Shields may manage to block this damage altogether. Still, as the target draws closer it will find it much harder to fend off a hail of arrows from Longbowmen. With Experience, the Longbowmen's attack can become quite deadly. By the time it reaches "Elite" level, this unit should be able to decimate or even destroy enemy Normal Units with a single attack, at least at close/medium range (up to 5 tiles away or so). In emergencies, or when they've run out of ammunition, Longbowmen can resort to a weak Melee Attack. Each Longbowmen attacks with a strength of . This too enjoys the innate bonus of , resulting in an average damage output of only per Longbowman. Again, this is quite weak and unlikely to pierce through any decent armor. Defense Properties Longbowmen wear the same light armor as any other High Elf unit, giving them a Defense score of . This allows the Longbowmen to block only about from any incoming attack. They will rarely be able to block any decent attack, and so should be expected to take damage often. As with most Normal Units, each Longbowman possesses only . In other words, each point of inflicted on this unit will kill off one of its . These values further serve to discourage allowing the Longbowmen to engage in any Melee combat, as the unit will likely be destroyed. For purposes of defending against Curses and other combat maledictions, the Longbowmen have an above-average Resistance score of . This can protect them from some ill effects, but will probably fail about as often as it succeeds. With Experience however, Longbowmen can become surprisingly resistant to a large variety of ill effects. Other Properties Longbowmen move at a slow , and can only traverse land tiles. Like most other High Elf units, Longbowmen possess the Forester trait, which theoretically allows the Longbowmen and any units stacked with them to move through Forest tiles at a cost of 1 Movement Point per tile. Unfortunately, because Longbowmen only have a Movement Allowance of 1 anyway, this gives them no real advantage. If the unit's Movement Allowance is somehow increased, it will be able to "cruise" through Forest tiles like they were Grassland. Basic Strategy Longbowmen can be described as a souped-up version of the basic Bowmen unit available to most Races. Still somewhat cheap, and possessing a strong amalgamation between Ranged Attack strength, and a small To Hit bonus, they pose a serious threat to enemy low-tier Normal Units. A single Longbowmen unit is likely to eliminate an enemy Normal Unit before it manages to close the distance for Melee combat. It will certainly out-shoot enemy Bowmen too. In groups, as often found in High Elf armies, Longbowmen can together pelt a strong target with arrows until it succumbs as well. Enemies with low Defense scores are particularly vulnerable to this - even some Fantastic Units. With Experience, Longbowmen can become quite terrifying, being able to pierce light armor even at great distances, or damage strong but light-armored Fantastic Units at close range. Longbowmen should not be allowed to travel on their own. Fast enemy units may be able to close in on them and kill them - since Longbowmen possess only token Melee Attack and Defense scores. Use strong Melee Attack units to defend them, and you may not even need to advance at your enemy at all: simply keep firing those arrows as the enemy advances, and by the time the enemy units reach your line, they'll be too weak to hurt your Melee defenders. When playing as the High Elves, try to produce a large number of Longbowmen as early as possible. This should not be difficult to do, as they have low requirements and are not too expensive. Do whatever it takes to keep your Longbowmen alive, so that they can gain from turn to turn and from battle to battle. An army of Experienced Longbowmen with decent defenders can be quite powerful in the early/mid game. Ability Overview Ranged Attack x8 * This unit may use a instead of a Melee Attack up to 8 times in each battle. Once the unit's ammo is expended, it must resort to Melee Attacks. +10% To Hit * This unit has an extra to hit its target with every attack. This improves its statistical chance to inflict more with each attack it makes. Forester * This unit may move through any Forest tile at a rate of 1 Movement Point per tile. * When this unit is stacked with other units, the entire stack may move through Forest tiles at a rate of 1 Movement Point per tile. Experience Table The following table illustrates how Longbowmen improve as they gain Experience. Any properties that are not listed here do not improve with Experience in any way. * To achieve this level, either the Warlord Retort or the Crusade spell must be in play. ** To achieve this level, both the Warlord Retort and the Crusade spell must be in play simultaneously. Average Damage Output The table below details the average amount of damage that each in a Longbowmen unit will deliver with each type of attack, based on . It can be used in comparison to the target's Defense rating to figure out the chance of hurting that target. Acquisition Longbowmen are unique to the High Elf faction, and thus may be produced in any High Elf Town. A town must contain both a Barracks and a Sawmill to be able to produce Longbowmen. Should a town lose an existing Barracks or Sawmill, it can no longer produce Longbowmen until replacement structures are built. The Construction Cost of this unit is . Longbowmen may appear for hire as Mercenaries. They may already have some Experience on being hired, and several units may be hired simultaneously. Hiring these units requires a certain cost in that depends on many different factors. Longbowmen Mercenaries have the same Upkeep Cost as a normally-constructed unit. Category:Units Category:Normal Units Category:High Elves